By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Majid Mushtaq
Photos = Seoul International Fireworks Festival
Who says you need to wait until New Year's to see colorful explosions in the air? Well, cheers! Korea’s biggest fireworks festival is coming, so you better mark your calendar and put up reminders to be there on time and reserve a good spot to watch the fireworks.
The Hanwha Seoul International Fireworks Festival is not only Korea’s biggest, but also one of the world’s most famous fireworks festivals. It's a representative festival of Korea to welcome the fall that has been continuing for 15 years. The festival is viewed by over 1 million people and in 2016, it even broke through the 1.2 million barrier, which is the largest in history.
The thing that makes this festival unique is that every year, teams from different countries participate and showcase their expertise in firework displays. Last year, there were teams from Spain, Japan and Korea, while this year the representative teams of Korea, the U.S. and Italy will participate and will embroider the autumn sky with five-colored flares with a total of 100,000 shots.
Here is a brief description of the participating teams.
Korea -- Hanwha Corporation. Having won second place in the International Fireworks Festival in Poland in 2015, this team is representative of Korea and has received immense recognition for its ability. It also performed at the Closing Ceremony at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games.
U.S. -- Pyro Spectaculars. This is the team that directed the fireworks at the Los Angeles and Atlanta Olympics, and it was among the participating teams for the first Seoul Fireworks Festival.
Italy -- Parente Fireworks. Having won second place in the Russian Rostec Fireworks Festival, this team is quite famous in the Middle East and Europe and has performed in multiple events around the world.
Each year’s festival is linked to a catch phrase. For 2017, it's official English-language catch phrase is, "Vivid Seoul. Vivid display and lighting production of one color. Fantasy experience space and performance program composition."
Apart from the fireworks show, there will be lots of events to see and abundant of things to do with your friends and family. There will be food trucks, a flea market, a "Vivid Road," a street art festival and a public DJ performance. Please find some information about the festival below.
Date 2017-09-30 Saturday 17:30 to 20:40
Plac: Hangang Park, Yeouido area
Direction:
- By Subway: Yeouinaru Station Exit #3 and #5, Ichon Station Exit #4, Saetgang Station Exit #3, Singil Station Exit #1, Mapo Station Exit #4.
- By Mini Bus: Yeongdeungpo 10, Yeongdeungpo 11
- By City Bus: 261, 262, 360, 461, 662, 753
- By Airport Bus: 6030
This fireworks festival is held once every year, so it's a perfect opportunity to go out with your friends and family and make some unforgettable memories. No matter in which part of Korea you live, trust us: you don't want to miss this festival. In the comment section below, we look forward to seeing your amazing pictures that you’ll capture at the festival.
Watch this YouTube clip to get a glimpse of last year’s fireworks festival.
wisdom117@korea.kr
